Method

1. If making pasta, just drop peeled cloves into the boiling water for 30 seconds to blanch, then refresh in cold water and pat dry, before adding the pasta and salt.
2. In a food processor or mortar & pestle, add pine nuts, macadamias, garlic, salt and ground pepperberry/pink peppercorns. Pulse or crush to a coarse paste.
3. In a separate container, mix in Plenty Macadamia Oil and basil leaves, gently stirring through. Mixing rather than blending further keeps the textured consistency of traditional pesto.
4. Fold in Parmigiano and Pecorino. Taste and add salt if needed. Salt creates balance, if it feels like it needs something, or is out of balance, it’s probably salt. Don’t be shy with salt but do only add a little at a time.
5. Top up with Plenty Macadamia Oil to get the consistency you want.
6. Let it sit for 15 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to come together.

Notes on changes

1. Blanched Garlic – We’re changing the garlic to manage how it behaves now that the fat has changed. In traditional pesto, extra virgin olive oil brings natural bitterness, peppery notes, and a slight bite. That structure helps absorb and cushion raw garlic, allowing it to feel integrated rather than sharp. Macadamia oil is softer, rounder, and more buttery in profile, with very little bitterness, so without that natural “bite,” raw garlic can sit on top of the flavour rather than blending into it. Blanching the garlic softens its edge, allowing it to distribute more evenly and support the overall balance.
2. We were considering adding lemon zest, to maintain the integrity of a true pesto flavour profile, but decided against it. Traditional pesto relies on the balance between basil, fat, nuts, and cheese for its freshness and lift, rather than acidity. Adding citrus would shift the profile away from pesto into a more modern herb sauce, but, you could try that! We’ve built our structure through the balance of nuts, considered cheese selection, and good amount of salt to create lift naturally and more in line with a true pesto. This allows the macadamia oil to express its richness without needing to be corrected by acidity.

Why this works

• 50/50 nut blend → keeps pesto identity while introducing macadamia character
• Macadamia oil only → clear Aussie hero ingredient, no dilution
• Blanched garlic → removes harshness so the oil + basil lead
• Dual cheese → replaces the “lift” you might be looking for from citrus but keeps it in the umami pesto ballpark